While the componentry is good, it’s not as portable as the DX320. Now the issue here is this a DAP, well yes, of course, but if I had one, I would see myself using it more as a transportable solution taking advantage of its power system. The ES9038PRO DAC is found on full-size desktops and Hifi components, but the house (in collab with THX) amp also packs a punch.Ĭodec support is all there, including MQA 8 and DSD 512, which we like to see as many audiophiles will pair integrate this player into their full HiFi system. What impresses me most about the M17 is how Fiio managed to cram so much desktop componentry into such a small package. In a practical sense, both are elite and, in my opinion, the two best DAP’s you can buy in 2023. Everything else comes down to personal preference I have always been an iBasso user, so I stick with them. For me, the sound quality is so good on both. While the company claims 10 hours, I got between 7-8 in real-world use.Īlthough I use the iBasso DX320 daily, if I was to switch to another, it would be the Fiio M17. IBasso through the kitchen sink at this DAP and understandably, the draw on the battery is immense. There has to be one drawback, but of course, it’s the battery life. Ram is a healthy 6 gigabytes, and internal storage is an admittedly small 128 GB. I have never had it crash or lag on me the Snapdragon 660 chipset, while not the flagship, is ridiculously overpowered for such a device even when sifting through a micro-sd card filled with 500GB of music, it’s rock solid. I also love the big screen and smoothness of the Android operating system. Because it includes three jack connectors (2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced and standard 3.5mm), I am less reliant on carrying external adapters. Speaking of reviewing and testing, that means I switch headphones a lot. Whatever IEM or headphones I throw at it, the DX320 never seems to lack power, and that is very important to me as someone who reviews a wide variety of hard-to-drive gear. This unit sounds ridiculously good and delivers on both the power and transparency fronts important when pairing it with capable HiFi equipment and headphones. It strikes a nice balance of features and price, especially when compared to more pricey options from Astell & Kern that don’t necessarily sound much better. As I mentioned above, the Ibasso DX320 is my high res music player of choice these days, and it replaced my already excellent DX300.

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